Brave New World – Machines (Channel 4 Documentary)

Brave New World with Stephen Hawking Professor Stephen Hawking presents a global exploration of the scientific breakthroughs that are transforming our lives in the 21st century. With the help of some of the world’s leading scientific figures – including Sir David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins, Aarathi Prasad, Lord Winston, Jim Alei-Khalili and Maggie Aderin-Pocock – this five-part series reveals how science is striving for humankind’s next leap forward. The team showcase breakthroughs in technology and engineering that are creating a new generation of machines. Mark Evans fuses his brain with a computer in Switzerland to test a new breed of machine. Kathy Sykes hits the streets of San Francisco to have the ride of her life as she experiences the future of transport in a driverless car. In Italy Jim Alei-Khalili comes face to face with a remarkable, baby-like robot called iCub, which learns like a child. Joy Reidenberg discovers the extraordinary exoskeleton that can make the paralysed walk and give one man the strength of three. In the Canary Islands Maggie Aderin-Pocock visits one of the world’s biggest telescopes, where they’re searching for new planets in the furthest reaches of the universe – planets that we could one day colonise.